The following homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service on 2/18/24.

“Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the ark with you, as many as come out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow up in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of the flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9:8-15)

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

According to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!

Good and upright is the LORD, therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalm 25:4-9)

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:12-15)

Good evening. Tonight, I want to take a moment and talk about God’s covenants with us. First, we need to define “covenant” because this is a word I only heard in church, and I don’t remember a time when I was given an exact definition. According to Google, a covenant is an agreement or business contract. We typically only use this word in a biblical sense. For example, no one today has said “I made a covenant with the Girl Scouts to buy their cookies.” But the word “covenant” would be actually correct in this statement. A covenant has also been called God’s promise to us. This is also correct, and unlike us, God keeps his promises. When God makes his covenant with Noah, He makes it clear his deal is with Noah, “and every living creature that is with [him], for all future generations.” The phrase “every living creature” is present every time God references His covenant.

This changes things. It means God’s promise to Noah has always also been God’s promise to us. This promise is that God will “set [his] bow up in the clouds” and never again flood the earth. God also adds that his rainbow will be seen in the clouds so he can “remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature of the flesh.” This is interesting because God, as a divine being, has a perfect memory. God saying the rainbow is a reminder to him is like the time God walks through the Garden of Eden to ask Adam where he is after he eats the forbidden fruit. God knows exactly where Adam is but wants Adam to talk to him. In the same way, the reminder of the rainbow is more for us, the future generation of Noah, than for God himself.

This fulfillment and remembrance of covenants is what humans still crave today. In the passage from Psalms, the author begs God to “be mindful of [His] mercy . . and [His] steadfast love . . of old.” The Psalmist remembers that God has made a covenant, and hopefully waits for Him “all day long.” I don’t know if the Psalmist ever got an answer from God. Seeing how the next Psalm is a plea for justice, I don’t think an answer came right away. And there is no short, simple answer to the hard questions of life. I know that we all have a long list of prayer requests every week, and sometimes when we pray, we don’t get an answer from God. Sometimes all we can do is beg God to remember his steadfast love from of old. When we do this, we are really reminding ourselves that we have a covenant with the God who keeps his promises.

In the passage from Mark, Jesus starts his Galilean ministry, “proclaiming the good news.” As He does, He is fulfilling the ultimate covenant God made with us: a promise of redemption and everlasting love. It’s easy to forget the power of God as soon as we count how many finals we have this week, but this new covenant is more powerful than anything else that comes our way. As you go into this week and face the challenges it holds, I hope you will find peace in God’s steadfast love and remember the power of his covenants with us.

On God's Covenants: Jordan Crum

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